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https://reneweconomy.com.au/wind-farm-bird-protection-tech-a-success-with-no-new-eagle-deaths-and-barely-a-dent-in-revenue/>
"Technology being used at two Tasmanian wind farms to avoid bird deaths from
turbine blade strikes has drastically reduced wedge-tail eagle fatalities at
the project sites, while resulting in an average of just 1 per cent curtailment
of generation from turbine shutdowns.
Goldwind Australia’s Medard Boutry says the 144 MW Cattle Hill wind farm in
Tasmania’s Central Highlands has not had any fatalities for more than a year
and a half, since an upgrade to the project’s aerial monitoring and detection
system, called Identiflight.
Identiflight, developed by US outfit company Boulder Imaging, uses machine
vision and AI technology to detect, classify and analyse avian activity and –
if protected bird species are detected – to temporarily shut down any wind
turbines that present a risk to the bird.
Outside of the US, Tasmania was one of the company’s earliest testing grounds,
with the a 16-tower system at Cattle Hill first trialled in 2019 and upgraded
in the first half of 2023 to address a blind spot discovered during the trials.
A newer version of the technology, IdentiFlight V5, had its global debut at
Tasmania’s Musselroe Wind Farm, in collaboration with project owner Woolnorth
Renewables.
“Tasmania … was a surprising delight in our business, not only because we were
able to have our first sales here, but it proved to be an incredibly fertile
ground for which we could perfect our technology and our craft,” Boulder
Imaging’s Don Mills told the 7th Annual Tasmanian Energy Development Conference
in Devonport last month.
“I just was at Musselroe yesterday. There’s been no fatalities in our first
year there.”
Mills, who is Boulder Imaging president and chief operating officer, and a
developer of Indentiflight, said it was his fourth time attending the Tasmania
conference, but the first time that the event did not attract protesters. "
Share and enjoy,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
